The French Revue
Previous episode: Lucy Tells the Truth Next episode: Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/Uncouth.jpg http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/LucyWins.jpg http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/CanCanLucy.jpg Plot Lucy and Ethel are positively embarrassed when they go to a new French restaurant and can't read the menus that are written in French. They want to immediately recitfy this situation and become more cultured, so Lucy hires the waiter from the French restaurant, Robert DuBois, to tutor her and Ethel. In exchange for French lessons, Robert DuBois requests that Lucy introduce him to Ricky, as Robert is an aspiring entertainer. When Lucy tells Ricky the idea, she convinces him how great a French revue would be for the club. Ricky agrees and takes Lucy's idea, but he refuses to let her be in the show. She said that she just will find a way to sneak in, anyway, so Ricky bets her $50 that she won't be able to successfully sneak into the act. After several failed attempts in conspicuous disguises, Lucy merely dresses like a rich woman guest at the Tropicana, and she is led right into the club to her table. She takes off her coat, revealing the costume worn in the dance number, sneaks under the table, and proudly kicks Ricky during the Can-Can to have him notice her. He gives her the $50, and Lucy smugly tucks the money away in her corset top. Trivia *When Robert DuBois is counting "one potato, two potato" in French ("une pomme de terre, deux pommes de terre"), what he says in the end is "My mother told me to pick you" in French ("ma mere m'a dit de prende a vous") *"La specialite de la maison" at the French restaurant is "un petit roti, des petits pois, et el quelque chose de pomme de terre frite," which translates into "roast meat, peas, and your choice of some kind of fried potatoes." *Lucy clearly didn't continue with French lessons for very long. Either that, or she forgot all of her French by season 5. When preparing for the Europe trip, Lucy had to study French all over again. *Ethel took French in high school, but she obviously forgot it all. *The Ricardos expected Fred to know French because he went to France during WWI. But Fred was only over in France for three weeks, so he didn't have a chance to learn much. *Ethel and Fred expected Ricky to know French because of the similarities between the Romance languages. There are many similarities between French and Spanish, but not enough for Ricky to have been able to decipher the menu cold. *We don't know if Lucy and Ethel ever had another French lesson with Robert DuBois, but, at their first lesson, they learned "le crayon" means "pencil," "la plume" means "pen," "le chat" means "cat," "Le crayon est sur le table" means "The pencil is on the table," and "La maison est rouge" means "The house is red." *Everybody was dressing up like Maurice Chevalier in this episode, and Ricky sang "Valentina" at the club. In episode six of the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, "Lucy Goes to Mexico," Maurice Chevalier guest starred and sang "Valentina." However, the lyrics to the song are completely changed in the French Revue version, with 1. It being in English and 2. Saying different things. The original lyrics for the chorus (translated) are: She had little feet, Valentine, Valentine, she had little breasts, which I groped, Valentine, Valentine, she had a little chin, Valentine, Valentine, Besides her little feet, her little breasts, her little chin, she was as frizzy as a sheep. Ricky sings about Valentine having teeth that look like like pretty pearls and that he must have Valentine. *Lucy said that a French revue at the club would be very popular, what with Moulin Rouge having been released in 1952 and Toulouse Lautrec paintings being all the rage at the time. * DuBois is a popular name In I Love Lucy, remember Maurice DuBois from the Charles Boyer episode? * The man that played the French waiter was actully from Purto Rico! Quotes *Lucy: Do you know how to read French? Ricky: Sure. I can read it. Lucy: Oh, good. Ricky: But I can't understand it! *Fred: well, I ought to be able to figure out SOMETHING on this thing! After all... Fred and Ethel: (in unison) ...during the First World War, I was stationed in France. Ethel: I know. Fred: Well, I WAS! Ethel: You were there exactly three weeks. Fred: Well, I learned a lot! Ethel: I know everything you learned, and they don't serve "Hinky-Dinky Parlez-Vous" here! *Fred: (at waiter) Hey, gar-con! (whistles loudly) *Robert DuBois: Very well. Four orders of "closed on Sundays"! *Ethel: But suppose you want to order the same thing next time? Fred: Well, I'll just wear the same tie and say, "Bring me some of this!" *Ricky: What does this "uncouth" mean? Fred: Well, if you're uncouth, it means that you're not couth! *Ethel: (all dressed up for Robert DuBois) Am I too late? Lucy: Yes, YEARS too late! *Robert DuBois: You're speaking French very well. Lucy: Yeah, we're in great shape if the restaurant we go to happens to serve pens and pencils. *Lucy: Gee, French is a funny language. Why are some of them "le" and some of them "la"? Robert DuBois: You see, there is a difference between French and English. In French, everything is either masculine or feminine. You Americans don't have that. Lucy: You haven't been in this country very long, have you? *Lucy: Le crayon est sur le table. Ricky: Excelente! Lucy: La maison est rouge! Ricky: Magnifico! Lucy: Boy, we sound so continental! Too bad we can't understand what the other is saying... Ricky: Yeah... *Ricky: There's one word that is exactly the same in Spanish, in French, and in English. Lucy: What's that? Ricky: "No"! *Ethel: That's tehe part the apache dance I like- where I hit him! Fred: You should have seen us one night when we got mad. We darn near killed each other!﻿